ANKENY, IOWA โ The introduction of thin-crust pizza at Caseyโs General Stores earlier this summer has proved to be solid fit for what had been a gap in the menu for the convenience store chain.
Darren M. Rebelez, president and chief executive officer of Caseyโs, told analysts during a Sept. 12 conference call to discuss first-quarter results that Caseyโs loyalty data showed approximately 16% of thin-crust pizza sales came from new buyers into the pizza category. About 12% of those sales were from new Caseyโs guests entirely, he said.
โThatโs been really helpful,โ Mr. Rebelez said. โAnd that was really our hypothesis going into the thin-crust (pizza launch), which was that there are certain guests that thatโs all they want. And thatโs going to be a veto vote in a family if we donโt have that offer. And so far, thatโs all played out. And the rewards data would validate that.โ
Mr. Rebelez said itโs hard to say whether Caseyโs has taken pizza share away from any of its competitors, though.
โSo itโs really difficult to say, but I couldnโt tell you that weโve seen an uptick in promotional activity from competitors since weโve launched the thin crust,โ he said. โI think the other pizza players have struggled a little bit from a velocity standpoint. So I think theyโre starting to get a little more promotional anyway, but I havenโt seen any change as a result of what weโve done.โ
Meanwhile, Caseyโs hot lunch sandwich segment received a boost from a collaboration with Kingโs Hawaiian, Torrance, Calif. Mr. Rebelez said the c-store chainโs barbecue brisket sandwich on Kingโs Hawaiian buns helped spur a 30% increase in sales in the hot lunch sandwich category for Caseyโs in the first quarter.
Net income in the first quarter ended July 31 totaled $169.24 million, equal to $4.54 per share on the common stock, up 11% from $152.93 million, or $4.11 per share, in the same period a year ago. Total revenue, meanwhile, fell 13% to $3.87 billion from $4.45 billion.
